Abstract
A growing body of research has highlighted that violence against young women and girls is a widespread problem (Burton et al., 1998; Barter et al., 2009; Maxwell and Aggleton, 2014a). Part of the reason it is so endemic and difficult to challenge is that violence in relationships is often normalised and justified by both young men and women (McCarry, 2010; Sundaram, 2013; Barter et al., 2015). Although issues of violence against women and girls have long been recognised and a wide range of intervention programmes funded globally (see Parkes, 2015, for instance), commitment to such work with young people has been intermittent and poorly funded in England (Maxwell, 2014b). In this chapter, we therefore wish to critically reect on debates surrounding the role of violence against women and girls (VAWG) prevention work in schools and, more specifically, examine how best to integrate it into the sex and relationships education curriculum (SRE). We focus on England and Australia here as this is where our recent work has been. In Australia, there have been ongoing eorts to integrate violence prevention work into school curricula at a state- and national-level, and we will draw on some examples to illustrate ways forward for VAWG prevention work in schools more broadly.
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© 2016 Vanita Sundaram, Claire Maxwell and Debbie Ollis
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Sundaram, V., Maxwell, C., Ollis, D. (2016). Where Does Violence Against Women and Girls Work Fit In? Exploring Spaces For Challenging Violence Within a Sex-Positive Framework in Schools. In: Sundaram, V., Sauntson, H. (eds) Global Perspectives and Key Debates in Sex and Relationships Education: Addressing Issues of Gender, Sexuality, Plurality and Power. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500229_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500229_5
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